A woman who was conceived during a paradise island fling has finally met her dad for the first time – after not knowing who he was for 34 YEARS.
Alicia Warren, 34, only knew her father’s name when she was growing up, and that her mum, Betty Blakey, 57, had met him on the sun-drenched island of Guam, in the Western Pacific Ocean, when she was stationed there with the US Navy.
Betty hadn’t found out she was pregnant until her holiday romance had left the island – and with no way to contact him, she brought Alicia up singlehandedly.
Growing up, Alicia asked about her father, but didn’t have enough information to track him down – until a DNA test finally revealed a match when Alicia uploaded her results in February this year.
Alicia finally met her dad, Peter Golstein, 63, a business owner, from Los Angeles, California, US, in June – and was overwhelmed at how welcoming he and his family have been in accepting his new daughter into his life.
The pair – who Alicia says are ‘like twins’ – are now exploring their new relationship as father and daughter, and making up for 34 years of lost time.
Speaking to the RealFix podcast, Alicia, a paralegal, from Salt Lake City, Utah, US, said: “It wasn’t like meeting a stranger – it was just like picking my dad up from the airport.
“It was like no time had passed at all, like we had known each other for my entire life.”
Alicia was born on Guam in 1985, where her mum Betty was serving with the US Navy.
Betty met Peter in a bar in Guam earlier the same year, whilst he enjoyed a scuba diving holiday with his brother.
The pair struck up a romance, and shortly after Peter returned to the US, Betty found out she was pregnant.
But Betty and Peter never exchanged phone numbers, and knowing only his name, Betty was unable to reach out to inform him that he was a father.
Betty returned to America in 1987, when Alicia was one, and although Alicia asked about her dad growing up, Betty was unable to provide her with any other information than his name, Peter Goldstein, and that he was from LA.
Speaking to the RealFix podcast, which helps people share their own stories, in their own words, Alicia said: “Through the years I tried searching – if you Google, Peter Goldstein, Los Angeles, there’s about five million of them.
“Without having any way to know what he looks like, know what he’s doing, and just knowing his name – there wasn’t a lot to go on.
“We’d search Facebook and social media, but it’s hard to click on somebody’s profile picture and be like: ‘Oh, I think I look like him’.”
Alicia decided that she would never reach out to anyone by the name of Peter Goldstein on Facebook, even if she thought he may be her dad – because she thought it would be a ‘brutal and inconsiderate’ way to tell someone they might have an unknown daughter.
Instead, she turned to ancestry site 23andMe in 2018, and did a DNA test kit to show potential family members.
Nobody on her father’s side showed up, and over the years she would get occasional notifications signally ‘new family members’ – none of which were her dad.
But after months of not checking her account, Alicia logged on in February of this year – and saw the name Peter Goldstein with a 50 percent DNA match.
“There was no question he was my dad – I could not believe my eyes,” Alicia said.
“My cousin did her detective work and located a picture of him and did a side-by-side photo of me and him and put us together – it was undeniable.
“The best way I can describe it, is that we look like twins.
“We both have blue eyes, I have his nose, I have his ears – pretty much every facial feature I have comes from him.”
Alicia sent Peter a message through the app – which she made sure was ‘perfect’ – and Peter replied shortly after.
He was shocked nobody had tried to reach out in the 34 years since Alicia was born, but made no hesitation in accepting her as part of the family.
After speaking back and forth for three months, Peter and his wife Camille made the journey to meet Alicia for the first time in June this year – and the pair hit it off immediately.
“It wasn’t like meeting a stranger – it was just like picking my dad up from the airport,” Alicia said.
“We laughed, we drank, we ate lots of food – it was like no time had passed at all, like we had known each other for my entire life.”
Alicia knows that not everyone has the same luck finding and reaching out to long-lost family members, and said: “I know people don’t always get this ending, and might not experience this, so I try to make people aware that, while I’m so excited that mine has been so positive, I do know that some people don’t have the same results.”
Peter and Alicia have met up a number of times since the summer, both in California and Utah, and Alicia has gotten to know her two new sisters – Peter and Camille’s daughters.
Although Peter wasn’t able to be a father to Alicia growing up, the pair are making up for lost time and seeing how their relationship develops – both thankful the experience has been so hugely positive.
“When you think about getting into a father daughter relationship now, you’re ultimately strangers – we’re still getting to know each other,” Alicia said.
“He tries to buy me things which I find hard – but I think he wants to make up for lost time.”
Betty now lives in Missouri, US, and has yet to meet Peter again, although there is no animosity or ill-will between the two.
Alicia said her mum was ‘hugely supportive’ of her quest to find her father – and is so pleased that her daughter has the answers she’s been looking for for so long.
When asked if anyone has ever compared her story to the musical Mamma Mia, Alicia said: “I need to watch that movie again.
“They haven’t compared it to Mamma Mia, but people do call it a Cinderella story – just because it was such a happy ending.”
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